Thatcher’s Cabinet ‘ had no idea of scale of Lockerbie tragedy’
THE UK Cabinet, meeting hours after Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie in 1988, had no idea of the full extent of the tragedy.
Newly released documents show a meeting took place on the morning of December 22, about 14 hours after the American jet exploded over the town, claiming 270 lives.
The files, released by the National Archives, reveal Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Cabinet heard claims the media may have been ‘exaggerating the extent of the damage to Lockerbie’.
The possibility of a disaster fund being set up was discussed, although caution was expressed over how much the Government would contribute, believing t here t o have been no Briti s h casualties.
It would later be confirmed that 43 of the 270 dead were British – 31 passengers, one crew member and 11 people on the ground.
The files say: ‘There would be a general expectation that a disaster f und would be established in respect of such a major incident and that the Government would contribute to it. It would be a mistake to prevaricate over this.’
But they add home insurance would l i kely s upport t hose impacted in Lockerbie, saying: ‘On the other hand, neither the aircraft nor its passengers were British and it was not yet clear that many people on the ground would require assistance. The private houses affected would presumably be covered by insurance.
‘Two local councillors had on the radio that morning criticised the media for exaggerating the extent of the damage to Lockerbie.’
Confusion was rife over who was responsible for confirming the names of the passengers. The meeting concluded that determining this was a priority. It was also told of the ‘superb’ response of the emergency services in the area. Only hours after the meeting, Mrs Thatcher visited the devastated town. In the aftermath of the atrocity, 5,000 police and 1,200 troops combed 900 square miles looking for clues, finding 40,000 items that built a legal case.
In 2001, Libyan agent Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi became the only person to be convicted over the atrocity. He was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 and died from prostate cancer three years later. Last September, one of the original suspects was said to be under investigation by the FBI after he was traced to a Libyan jail following an in-depth investigation by US documentary makers.
Ken Dornstein, whose brother David was among the victims, set out to make a documentary about those implicated in the atrocity, but not brought to justice.
His research led him to Abu Agila Mas’ud, a shadowy figure in the Gaddafi regime who was known as a technical expert and later jailed for bomb-making.
Mr Dornstein’s film, My Brother’s Bomber, revealed Megrahi was greeted by Mas’ud after being repatriated. FBI officials are believed to be investigating Mas’ud’s role in the atrocity. He was named in the 1999 indictment against Megrahi but never faced charges.